1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to secure online transactions conducted with or through a modem. The present invention also relates to a modem having integral identifying indicia capable of communication in an online transaction to authenticate or otherwise validate a transaction.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the rapid growth of online electronic commerce and online transfers of information, there has been a growing need to authenticate or otherwise validate the identity of the participants in online transactions. In some instances, it is desirable to positively establish the identity of an individual attempting to gain access to a data network. For example, a company or other organization may wish to provide access to its data or communication network only to employees or authorized users. This is conventionally accomplished by registering user identification information such as usernames and associating passwords with the usernames of the authorized users. For various reasons, including the failure of users to frequently change passwords, this strategy has proven unsatisfactory.
Another instance in which it is desirable to authenticate or otherwise validate user identities is in electronic or online commerce. In some instances it may be desirable to positively establish the identity of a user making a transaction to authorize a charge to a user account. The more typical sort of online transaction includes a user providing a credit card or other account information to purchase a good or service. For this type of online transaction, vendors wish to authenticate the credit card number provided for online transactions to ensure that the party attempting to complete the online transaction is in fact the owner or authorized user of that credit card number. On the user side of electronics commerce, online credit card usage has been limited by fears that credit card numbers can be readily obtained and used in an online transaction without verification that the user is authorized to use the credit card account. Online credit card usage might be encouraged if greater assurances could be provided as to the security of the transaction.
Various strategies have been attempted to provide secure online transactions. To date, these strategies have not been widely implemented, whether due to high costs or difficulties in using the secure transaction links. It would be desirable to provide a simple and cost effective method for authenticating or validating transactions.